Adding more weight to growing concerns about the risks to human health from exposure to BPA commonly found in plastic bottles and sipper cups, the study is the first to link prenatal BPA exposure to behavioural problems in children.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina and British Columbia's Simon Fraser University (SFU), measured BPA levels in urine samples taken from 249 pregnant women in Cincinnati, Ohio, at 16 and 26 weeks of pregnancy, then again at birth. The children were assessed for behavioural problems at two years of age through questionnaires completed by their parents.
Behavorial problems
Exposure to BPA between 13 and 16 weeks of pregnancy was most strongly associated with behaviour problems in girls but could be traced in boys too.
Commenting on the research, Bruce Lanphear, SFU professor of children's environmental health and one of the researchers involved in the study, said: “The girls showed a definite difference in temperaments. Their behaviour was actually much more like boys at the same age."
Canada became the first country to declare BPA hazardous to human health, and to ban its use in baby bottles. But Lanphear said the results of this latest study suggest the authorities should review the baby-bottle ban and examine more closely the risks of prenatal exposure.
The study will continue to monitor the children to see if the changes in temperament persist as they grow older.
Meanwhile, Michelle Macias, a doctor and spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics, notes that the increases in aggression were subtle. "Nothing in this study suggests that these kids have higher rates of behavioral disorders," she said.
Pre-natal exposure
Hyperactivity specialist and pediatrician Lawrence Diller warned that many other factors could have caused the girls' aggressive behavior. More comprehensive studies are needed before firm conclusions can be drawn about the risk of pre-natal exposure to BPA, he said.